Chapter 43: Chapter 43

"I'M so sorry, Bianca." That was the first thing that Kelly said when I got to work on Monday.

"Jeff had told me what I said that night." Kelly bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry for my loud mouth. Damn, I swear I'll never get drunk again."

I smiled at her. "No worries, Kelly. It's fine."

Her eyes widened. "Really? You're not mad at me?" She suddenly looked relieved.

I shook my head. "Nah. It's okay. Anyway, what happened to you and Jeff?"

I noticed earlier that those two were avoiding each other since this morning. I wondered what's up?

Kelly slightly looked away. "Uh, nothing, Bianca. I'm not just in the mood to talk to him."

"Really?" I probed. "I mean… did you two fight?"

Kelly chuckled nervously. "No. We're fine, Bianca. Don't mind us."

I frowned a bit. I noticed she was nervous about something. "Well, you can talk to me anytime."

Kelly smiled. "Thanks, Bianca."

Lunchtime came and like usual, Gideon sent us food.

'Enjoy your lunch, wife. I'm still in the middle of a meeting, I can't call.

I received a text message from him. Well, Gideon doesn't always call every time he sends us food. Sometimes, he just texts. Just like now.

I pursed my lips as I typed in a reply. 'Then stop texting me, you're in the middle of a meeting!'

Not a minute later, my phone beeped. 'I'm bored here.'

I scoffed after reading his reply. Gideon Henry? Getting bored in a corporate meeting? That's highly unlikely.

That's very out of his character. But to be fair, most of the things he did after losing his memory were out of his character as formidable Gideon Henry.

'Just focus on the meeting, Gideon!'

Seconds passed and his reply already came. 'I can't when all I could think of right is you.'

My lips parted. What the hell?

"You okay, Bianca? Your face is red. Who are you texting?"

I immediately put back my phone in my pocket. The hell I would reply to that!

I put my hand on my left cheek. Was it really red? "Nothing, Kelly." I cleared my throat. "Let's eat?"

Our lunch was unusually quiet. Kelly and Jeff weren't talking to each other. They were even avoiding each other's eyes. I felt awkward being around them.

Well, that afternoon, I was glad that Martin suddenly came.

"I was already done with my research paper so I decided to drop my here," he said to Kelly when the woman asked him what he was doing there.

Martin turned to me. "Hi, Bianca."

I smiled at him. Just like the night that I saw him, he was wearing a plain white shirt, faded jeans, and black boots. But his hair got shorter.

"You cut your hair," I commented.

"Yeah. One of my professors asked me to cut my hair."

He mentioned to me the other night that he was taking a master's in industrial engineering at Caltech.

"Don't worry, it still looked good on you."

"Really?" His lips formed a smile.

"Well, you're still good-looking." I shrugged before I arranged the books on the shelf in front of me.

"Wow. Now, I don't feel bad about my hair."

I chuckled a little. "Anyway, I have something to ask you." I turned to him.

"Oh. What is it?" Martin curiously raised his brow.

I looked around to make sure that Kelly and Jeff were not around.

"Did something happen to Kelly and Jeff the other night?" I asked in a small voice. "They have been ignoring each other since this morning."

Martin's brows furrowed. "Huh… I remembered Jeff volunteered to bring Kelly home. That's all I know."

I pursed my lips. "What do you think happened?"

Martin wriggled his eyebrows. "Maybe they finally bang each other?"

My eyes widened. I didn't expect that. "Do you think so?"

He shrugged, then grinned at me. "Well, those two are obviously attracted to each other."

I pursed my lips and thought about it. Could Martin be right? Could those two…

I shook my head. It's none of my business.

"Can I also ask you a question?"

I looked at Martin. "What is it?"

"Is what Kelly said that night true? That you're going to divorce your husband?"

I stilled.

"It's okay if you don't answer. I apologize for being nosy."

I gave Martin a small smile. "It's fine, Martin. Yeah," I breathed. "Kelly's right. I'm planning to divorce my husband."

"But you just got married, right? Is your husband treating you badly?"

I looked at Martin. I suddenly remembered my first months with Gideon. That felt like a long time ago now.

"Bianca?" Martin looked concerned with my sudden silence. "Is your husband hurting you? You can tell me."

I shook my head. "No. He's not hurting me. Gideon could never do that."

Well, the new Gideon could never do that. He had been gentle to me. I had never even heard him raise his voice.

"Are you sure?" He still looked doubtful.

I swallowed. Then I smiled at him. "Yeah. He's a good husband."

I couldn't believe these words were coming from my mouth. But it was true. The new Gideon has been nothing but a good husband to me.

"Then why are you planning to end your marriage?"

I swallowed again. "It's just that… we didn't really love each other. We didn't really marry out of love."

"Really?" Martin sounded curious and confused. "How did that happen?"

I pursed my lips. "Well, it's a long story and I'm pretty you'll get bored with it?"

Martin raised his brow. "You can try me. Let's see if I'll get bored."

I let out a chuckle. "Nah. You don't want to hear it."

"Alright. Sorry for being nosy," he said, pursing his lips. "I felt like you're no longer comfortable sharing that."

I just smiled at him.

"What are you two talking about?"

Kelly interrupted us, her eyes looking at me and then at Martin.

"Oh, we were just talking about you, Kelly," Martin said, grinning. "Did you and Jeff have a lover's quarrel? You're suddenly acting awkward in front of each other, aren't you?"

I noticed how Kelly's cheeks flushed. "We're not awkward, Martin. Most of all, Jeff and I are not lovers." Kelly then turned to me. "Bianca, Gideon's already here. He's talking to… Jeff on the counter."

"Oh." I glanced at my wristwatch. I hadn't realized it was already five.

"Your husband's fetching you at work?" Martin asked, Kelly had already left us.

"Yeah." I gave a small smile. "I'll go ahead, Martin."

Martin looked at his own wristwatch. "Sure. I'll also leave now."

I immediately saw Gideon near the entrance of the shop. He was talking to Kelly while Jeff was busy with a customer at the counter.

He was wearing his usual business attire. His white dress shirt was already folded up to his elbows. His crutches were resting beside him.

Gideon turned his head in my direction. I noticed how his eyebrows slowly crossed in one line when he looked past me.

I realized his eyes went to Martin. Before I could go to him, he already stood up and picked up his crutches. He moved and met me halfway.

"Hi, you're here," I greeted him.

"Yeah," he said, glancing at Martin. "You're also here," he said to the man.

"Well, I worked here sometimes," Martin answered, shrugging. "Besides, this shop is owned by my aunt."

I looked at the two men and noticed a tension was going between them. When I glanced at Kelly, I saw her and Jeff were also looking in our direction.

Martin looked at me. "I'll go now, Bianca," he smiled. Then he turned to Gideon. "Nice to meet you again, Gideon. Take care of your wife while she's still yours."